Notes for trust officers, private bankers and others concerned with estate and trust planning, from a Merrill Anderson Senior Editor and his retired mentor.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Could the Ideal Estate Tax Rate be 100%?

If the Republicans ever agree on a tax bill (dream on!) the federal estate tax may die for longer than it did in 2010. But the urge to tax inherited wealth never dies – especially, it seems, in the U.K.

Yes, the desire to pass on property to your descendants may be natural – but why should we be slaves to our biology? Social progress has frequently depended on our ability to transcend individualistic urges and work together for the common good.

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Cultural norms teach us that the inheritance of private property is the default and any expropriation of this wealth must be justified. It should be the other way round.

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A 100% estate tax (perhaps with a small allowance for objects of sentimental value) isn’t a policy we can expect to see in a party manifesto any time soon. It’s well outside the current spectrum of mainstream political opinion. Questioning the status quo is always going to be a somewhat uncomfortable process, though, and all kinds of major social changes seemed impossible until suddenly they weren’t.

The crack about "slaves to our biology" is interesting. Would adopted children still get inheritances?

Confiscation of wealth at death would promote every possible method of lifetime transfer. With lifespans lengthening, that might not be such a bad idea. Why should someone age 70 still be waiting for his parents to part with their worldly goods?